Imaginary Friend
by stitchworks
Summary: Everyone knew about The Jon’s imaginary friend- a bot who lived in the vents and and was too shy to say hello. They all thought he had made it up. They couldnt have been more wrong. (A Steam Powered Giraffe fic)


Everyone knew about the Jon's imaginary friend. It was a robot who lived in the vents- it wore a white blanket and a bow tie and was "too afraid to come out and meet everyone." The Jon would occasionally recount what he did that day with his friend- Goldie, he called it- usually singing quiet songs and exchanging small gifts through the grates. Of course, Jon would never show them anything his friend 'gave' him- said that his friend thought that they didn't know about him. They all thought he was making it up. Until they saw exactly who it was.

They had been practicing a older song- That'll Be the Way Home, just as a warm-up. Throughout the song, though, something seemed... off about the harmonies.

"It was Goldie, singing along!" Jon said, happily looking towards the vent from his chair. The Spine sighed, a bit of steam blowing out of his mouth. Rabbit gave a little laugh.

"Let him h-h-have his fun." She said quietly to him. "Everyone goes through a phase like this."

"He's 118. He should be over it."

"You're still not over your cowboy phase, The Jon can have a secret friend."

"You still play pirates all the time yourself, Rabbit." Hatchworth chimed in, plucking at his bass. Rabbit gave him a look that practically shouted 'you're not helping.'

"I'll go look around, s-s-see what's up." She said. With that, Rabbit left. The Jon took the opportunity to get some playing done with his brothers, jumping up and running to Rabbit's spot. They started singing again.

In the middle of the second verse, something caught the Spine's eye. Something glimmered in the vent, light reflecting off it with a golden gleam. They finished, and Spine leaned over to Jon. He made a small gesture towards the vent.

"Jon, what is that?" Jon looked down towards the vent, and smiled.

"S'Goldie!" The Jon ran to the vent and got on his knees, sticking as much of a finger he could through the thin openings in the wide grate. He could hear hushed whispers and quiet giggles. The Spine and Hatchworth shared a glance as Spine walked slowly down to the Jon; as he moved closer he could hear the whispers get more frantic and panicked. "No, no, it's okay!" Jon said. "Spine's nice!" The Jon moved to the side, and looked between the vents and the Spine expectantly. Spine crouched down and peered through the grate.

'Goldie' had a golden faceplate that greatly resembled the Jon's- almost perfectly- except it had bright red cheeks. It wore a short brown wig with bangs that covered it's photoreceptors. Sure enough, it wore a bow tie like Jon had said, but the white blanket wasn't a blanket- it was a straight jacket, with its sleeves torn so the arms could move. Smoke would occasionally puff out from it's mouth or from under it's faceplate, and he could just barely see the glow of something green underneath the straight jacket- a green matter core. Oh, no.

The Spine has never gotten the full story about when Rabbit was stolen- but he did know that when Rabbit went missing, so did the updated designs and sheets for her, him, The Jon and Hatchworth. They were eventually found back in their original places, but it was rumored that Becile had taken them and made bots of his own. The proof was staring him in the face, it's features full of fear.

The Spine put his hand on the Jon's chest protectively. Becile's creations were never safe.

"The Spine, what are you-?"

"Move back, Jon."

"I don't-"

"I said, move back." His tone was serious. The Jon moved.

The Spine could see the golden robot in the vent move away from the grate, pushing himself against the walls of the vent. Spine leaned forward, putting his fingers on the large grate, and he slowly began gripping the edges. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you." The thing seemed jumpy, taking quick glances to the Jon. He slowly raised the grate and put it aside; the hole left by it seemed to be big enough for it to fit through. He could either coax it out or be quick and yank it out-honestly, he was leaning more towards the former. It was scared of everyone but the Jon. Spine looked at Jon.

"Can you get it out?" He tried to be as quiet as possible, as to not disturb the bot in the vents.

"I... I think so," the Jon said, slowly crawling towards the vent, cooing softly at 'Goldie'. It scooted frantically to the Jon, still as far away from the Spine as it could possibly be.

It felt like an eternity, but eventually the Jon was able to get 'Goldie' out of the vents. It took a lot of moving the others- particularly the Spine- as far away from the grate as possible. Rabbit had walked in during the endeavor, who was met by hushed 'be very quiet' and 'no sudden movements.' She was beginning to think there was a raccoon in the vent.

The Jon gingerly helped 'Goldie' out of the vent. At full height, it seemed to be exactly as tall as Jon; currently it was hunched behind the Jon, staring at the other bots, occasionally giggling and whispering in the Jon's ear.

It was Hatchworth who moved first.

He slowly stepped towards the Jon and the other bot, and once he got to a good distance, he held his hand out- 'Goldie' flinched behind the Jon.

"Hello. I am Hatchworth. It is a pleasure to meet you, finally. The Jon has said many good things." The robot looked at the hand blankly, expecting something to happen. There was a pause. "Oh, it is a handshake. Like this." Hatchworth took the Jon's hand and shook it. "You try."

Slowly, cautiously, the bot took Hatchworth's hand and shook, slowly creeping out from behind the Jon. The smile on his face grew as it shook, giggling soon turned to strange laughter as he shook his hand rapidly. Hatchworth smiled at it, trying not to show his concern for not only the bot's sanity but his arm possibly being ripped off. At least 'Goldie' was comfortable. Speaking of- "I presume Goldie is just a nickname. What is your actual name?"

There was a pause. He put Hatchworth's hand down- then, quietly:

"The Jack."


End file.
